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Hughes hopeful over unwell trio

Mark Hughes hopes three of his Stoke City players affected by a virus will be fit for Saturday's Premier League clash with Liverpool.

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Written ByPeter Thompson

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Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and the versatile Geoff Cameron missed
training on Thursday after being struck by illness.

Defender Phil Bardsley was also sent home after revealing that
he felt unwell.

Stoke are seeking to bounce back from a 2-1 home defeat against
Burnley and Hughes is keeping his fingers crossed that all three
players will be available to feature against Brendan Rodgers' men
on Merseyside at the weekend.

The Welshman said at a press conference: "We have been
struggling to contain the virus. The Under-21s were hit with it
earlier in the week and closed their operation down for the last
three days.

"Unfortunately today Asmir Begovic, Geoff Cameron and Phil
Bardsley have fallen in and are struggling a little bit.

"It could be the time of the year we are in, I don't know. Maybe
it could have been picked up from youngsters. We're hoping that
it's just a 24-hour thing."

Stoke suffered a blow earlier this week, when it was revealed
that winger Victor Moses could be out for more than six weeks with
a thigh injury.

Oussama Assaidi, on loan at Stoke from Liverpool, is ineligible
to face his parent club on Saturday.